


It's the most wonderful time of the year

by over_the_sun



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: F/M, Homemade ornament, Ice Skating, Idiots in Love, It's hand holding season!, Mentions of Ben Parker, Mentions of Betty Brant, POV MJ, POV Multiple, POV Outsider, Pining, Spideychelle, Tags to be added, The twelve days of promptmas, promptmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28073187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/over_the_sun/pseuds/over_the_sun
Summary: Peter has a plan and he's counting on the magic of Christmas to succeeding.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, spideychelle - Relationship
Comments: 36
Kudos: 23





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends! This is just a short intro for this promptmas fic I'm still working on.  
> Thank you so much @spiderman-homecomeme for organizing this amazing event!

Two important things to know about him: number one he has bad, terrible, out-of-this-world awful luck. And number two he loves Christmas.

The first one is something he came to terms with a long time ago. Them Parkers are born with it and learn to work with it through life, using the charming attitude to overcome the way life has to kick their asses.

The second one is a little related. 

Peter always loved the holidays, even if his uncle and parents were Jewish, his aunt May is not and they always ended up celebrating both holidays. 

When he was little he understood the importance of the rituals of Hanukkah but got truly excited by the promise of the many gifts an only child/ only nephew could get, it wasn't an extravagant amount, but he got his first Star Wars action figure one Christmas and he'll never forget.

He remembers early holidays, learning to ice skate, decorating cookies with hands sticky of icing, sitting around a small plastic tree while opening gifts and watching movies 'till he couldn't keep his eyes open, between the comfort and love of his uncles and parents.

With the years the activities had grown to become traditions and he's learned to appreciate all those moments for what they truly are. The opportunity for making new memories of times where happiness and calmness and love and magic prevail. Memories he would lock safely into his brain and his heart for those times when life gets too hard or scary. Something that happens quite often when you are a seventeen years old superhero in a world that seems to be in constant danger.

He believes that the magic of Christmas somehow cancels the tragedy of Parker luck. It's weird, he knows, and some people might think it's childish to believe in it. But Christmas has never failed to help him, at least for a week, to corner the bad luck that reigns his life. 

It's indeed, as if the universe takes pity on him for seven days a year before throwing him back into a spiral of nonsense all over again.

And this year he's going to do good use of it. Because this year he has a plan he wants to -no, thar he needs to- fulfill. A plan related to the one and only Michelle Jones.

MJ who is going to join the traditions that May and him, with the help of Ned, had been keeping alive the last few years. 

His friendship with MJ started easily, he doesn't even know when, he just knows that one day Michelle, was calling him a loser from the other corner of the lunch table or mocking him about his nerdy t-shirts and the other she was MJ, the cool girl who always had a book at hand distant, always watched movies with them on fridays and the one he would find already at his house, after a long day out, talking with May while having some tea and cookies. 

It was something that happened easily. Like it was meant to be.

May, Ned and he like her. He likes her more and different maybe. Ok, he definitely does, it was touchy subject at first, given how impossibly wrong his last crush went, but they are slowly and steadily getting there, somewhere. 

And Peter found the perfect way to definitely stop with the charade of a friendship no one believes anymore. Not that they are no friends, he loves to talk to her about his missions or the English homework he doesn't understand, or listen to her talk about the book she just finished and how that makes her feel, he loves to share movie nights with Ned and MJ while having handfuls of candy and he likes to know her likes and dislikes and her fears and what makes her happy.

But he would also like to kiss her and hold her hand in public and be able to compliment her and see her red cheeks and pretty smile. A lot. 

So the plan has to work, therefore the fact that he's waited up until Christmas week to take hands in the matter.

And if it does, then Peter will have another reason to believe Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.


	2. Baby, It's Cold Outside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He is sure she is tilting her face closer and that Christmas luck is doing its appearance earlier so he can finally get to kiss the girl of his dreams._
> 
> Day 2: Ice skating!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2 of Promptmas! The first real chapter.  
> Again, I hope this makes sense and that you enjoy it! :)

**Peter's POV**

* * *

It's the first day of Christmas break or more likely the first day of his lucky week. So obviously Peter wakes up at seven in the morning.

It is excessive considering that he and May had to pick up Ned and MJ at ten to go ice skating, but he could barely keep his eyes closed for more than a few minutes the whole night, too much anticipation running through his body, so there is no point in staying one more minute in bed. He is a little over enthusiastic in day to day life so it was a given that it would boost with the season.

He gets out of bed and goes straight to press his face to the window like a little kid.

The sun is just starting to rise, the first rays sliding through the tall city buildings and reflecting into the tiny and disperse snowflakes that are falling from the sky, the streets below are covered with a thin layer of it giving the appearance that it's even colder. His warm breath, so close against the cold glass, starts to form condensation and fog the view and he has to swipe it with his hand.

It is the perfect morning for ice skating and he plans to surprise MJ with his great abilities on skates today, maybe swirl around with her or something.

He wakes up May while trying to make breakfast. He isn’t a bad cook, -not a good one either- just a messy one and every time he intends to grab one or another utensil, things clash with a strident noise that seems to echo around too loud for their tiny apartment.

Of course May isn’t angry when she gets into the kitchen —kissing him soundly on his temple before hugging herself into her thick robe trying to keep the bed warm with her a bit longer— because he has ready a blueberry pancake tower with too much honey and a cup of the fancy black coffee she only has for Christmas and other special winterly occasions. And because she is May, and she only gets angry when he lies, which is fair.

They clean up the mess and get changed in a few minutes and although the snow outside was only falling softly, they go all the way with the cold protection. Once hats, gloves, sweaters and coats are on they go to pick up Ned and MJ and straight to the ice rink.

The place is as beautiful as always and Peter’s eyes wander around taking all in.

The rank, as everything in a big city as New York, is surrounded by immense buildings and the sounds of morning traffic but he easily forgets about that looking at the big dark green Christmas tree decorated with shiny red and yellow lights and hearing families laughing joyfully.

The image of dads teaching their kids how to skate around takes back memories of Ben doing the same with him and even if he loves to remember, a knot forms in his throat and his eyes move looking for his aunt.

May never was a fan of skating on any kind of surface and she really isn’t a fan of cold at all either. Before, she would do it for Ben and him, she used to tell them “It’s hand holding season” with a bright soft smile and a shimmer in her eyes, looking adoringly at her husband while they stake chained together.

Now that Peter is older, she prefers to spend her time in the Holiday Shops admiring the artisanal works or taking pictures of her kids, as she loves to call them, from the other side of the railing.

After they put their skates on they get into the rank. There are a lot of people in but it is not crowded yet, which is a sign that they won’t have to move a millimeter at a time.

Ned enters first with a happy smile that turns into a pleased one after gliding forward a short distance without incidents. He's an ok skater as long as he is close enough to the edge to grab from the railing if something goes wrong, clearly not a fan of bruising his ass in spite of the holidays.

Peter follows him without much thought. He always liked it but only became good at it after the spider bite, the reason why he's using the day to try to impress MJ.

He knows she is not much of a fan of show offs, but he's seen her watch him intently during P.E. so maybe she'll like watching him skate too. He does a couple of strides to warm up next to Ned and then a few swirls holding his balance perfectly. He's really proud and Ned claps for him as the excellent friend he is but when he turns to look at MJ's reaction she's nowhere to be found.

"Dude, where's MJ?" He asks a little concerned because she's not next to them.

Ned looks around and spots her, pointing with his gloved right hand the entrance of the rank.

From this distance, with his super senses, he can see how wide with panic her eyes are and hears how fast her heart is beating — he can also see the faint blush in her cheeks and nose from the cold and can’t help to think it’s the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. But she's clearly scared so Peter excuses himself to go get her.

He takes long easy strides and stops in front of her. She must have only got her feet inside the rank when she realised her new found fear.

“Hey, you good?,” he says.

“I’ve never done this before,” MJ confesses hurriedly, a hint of something like shame in her tone that won’t let her look directly at him.

He knows MJ is someone confident, it is one of the many amazing qualities she has. On the other hand he’s learned that she seeks refuge in things that she considers safe and has control over, and it seems like ice skating is out of that list.

“‘S ok. It’s really easy. Look at Ned!” he says encouragely, looking over his shoulder and pointing at their friend in the exact moment a kid sprints against him crushing them both to the ground. He cringes before turning to look at her with a strained smile. Her eyes are rounder and she says

“I’m out” even if she doesn’t move a muscle, frozen with fear.

“No, no come on, I’ll teach you. Please” he eagerly responds. He was really looking forward to spending the day with her — and Ned too, obviously, but you know, big crush and everything — so it's ok if he can't do his little skate routine as long as she knows he wants her to have fun and feel safe.

He offers his right hand for her, she looks at it with distrust and he could swear the faint blush on her cheeks, product of the cold, goes a little darker before holding his hand.

“You better don’t let me fall, Peter” she says, dead serious. He grabs her other hand too for better support -and a little because it feels nice and she's not wearing any gloves so he wants to protect her from the cold- and they start moving slowly.

If he hadn't had super strength, she would probably have broken him a few fingers. It reminds him of the time after he told her he was spider-man, which she already knew obviously, took her swinging around the city and he ended up deaf of one ear for a week — on the good side he’ll never forget the feeling of her face against his neck and her arms around his back.

Michelle mirrors every motion he makes with her gaze locked in her foot and her body stiff as a rock.

“Loosen up, just bend your knees a little” he incites.

She responds with a murderous look and frustration growl, so he tries again.

“Look, try to relax”

“I’m trying!”

She is frustrated, he gets it.

It must be hard to be so fantastic and outstanding at everything and then finding something you don’t know. Yes, he is biased when it comes to her qualities, but everyone knows she is amazing anyway.

While MJ adjusts to the new motions and tries to follow his advice, he takes his time to look at her.

Her gaze is dropped so he can distinguish every single eyelash made to protect her pretty eyes — he loves her eyes and how the color seems to morph from dark brown when she is bored to light brown with a hint of green when she is happy. — The snow had abated since this morning but he can still distinguish the almost invisible snowflakes falling on her protruding, pouting bottom lip. She is stunning and he can’t help the wide smile forming on his face.

“Don’t laugh at me,” she says when she catches him looking.

Peter snorts at the absurdity of her comment and before he can answer she tries to hit him with her loose hand. It’s a regular occurrence, MJ punching him for being silly, but all those times before they were not in the middle of a snow rank wearing skate blades, trying to teach her how to move, so she loses balance.

He tries to catch her mid air but his spidey reflexes are not as sharp when she is around — Michelle has a way to make him go mushy on the head — so he only ends up being a soft cushion for their hard fall.

Peter knows as a fact that many people are skating around them but he could care less about it, not when MJ’s body is laying on top of his, their legs are tangled and one of her soft brown curls is falling on his face.

From this distance he can smell the peppermint gum she’s chewing and the lavender scent of her skin and he swoons.

“Good catch, spidey” she murmurs as her hand caress his cheek softly with the excuse of moving her hair away.

He is sure she is tilting her face closer and that Christmas luck is doing its appearance earlier so he can finally get to kiss the girl of his dreams.

But Ned, like that annoying alarm clock that sounds in the highest moment of your dream, gets there with all his friendly obliviousness.

“Dude! You good?” the newcomer says concerned, quickly helping MJ up. As he gets up to stand besides them, Peter has to remind himself that he loves Ned with his whole heart and that he is his best friend. Repeatedly.

They take a few more strides. Ned showing MJ his technique of rail holding and him hovering close, this time really focused into avoiding her fall.

MJ decides that is too much stress for the day a little after so they go looking for May.

The way to their meeting point is too crowded, most people are already enjoying the mild cold day, so when MJ holds his hand he thinks it must be so they don’t drift away or because of her lack of gloves.

Anyway he doesn’t complain. It’s hand holding season after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! ❤  
> And thank you @spiderman-homecomeme for organizing this amazing event!! 🙌


	3. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _This year they have a special guest. It's not really that special considering that MJ's been around since sophomore year -the first one, before the snap- and had slowly become their friend when they came back, but Peter thinks she is._
> 
> _Peter, who has the biggest crush -if you can call it a crush at this point- on her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! 
> 
> Here we are with day 4 of promptmas: Homemade ornaments   
> Paper snowflakes   
> “Why are you staring at me?” “Nothing… You just look really cute right now.”
> 
> This time is Ned's P.O.V!!
> 
> Thank you @spiderman-homecomeme for organizing such amazing event! ❤🙌
> 
> Hope you like this 😊

A month prior the catastrophic events that led to the biggest genocide in the history of the universe courtesy of a purple giant with delusions of grandeur, Ned Leeds got the news that he'll become a big brother.

He met his little sister five years later while his parents hugged him and cried with happiness and pinched his cheeks still not believing he was back.

He remembers how confused, four and a half years old Lucy Leeds looked, all pinched brows and pouty lips from trying too hard to understand what was going on. She demanded an explanation and she got one -a very simple "He is your big brother, Ned" from their giddy dad- and that was all she needed to throw herself into the hug.

Ned knew in that moment that she was his favorite person in the world.

He’s learned that his little sister is very demanding but so charming with her endearing smile and sweet voice that she makes you want to do what she says, she'll eat her veggies with no complaints except that onions are in the plate, her favorite colour is green because it's his favourite too but when Peter's visiting it magically changes to red, she's super smart and -and this is super important- she loves Christmas with all her heart because of its pretty colours and shiny lights.

That's why the ornaments making and house decorating had moved from Peter's to his house. Usually at Peter's, it is a big event that starts the first day of winter break after Hanukkah's traditions are done, but Ned's mom is a little bit of a control freak. Not in a bad way, she just likes to have all of it organized and ready the first day of December, she says it gives them more room to fix things if they go wrong.

It's completely the opposite of May's “we run around from shop to shop the last week before Christmas” which he finds kind of fun with all the adrenaline that courses through his veins when they have to fight someone over the star that goes on top of the tree.

This year they have a special guest. It's not really that special considering that MJ's been around since sophomore year -the first one, before the snap- and had slowly become their friend when they came back, but Peter thinks she is.

Peter, who has the biggest crush -if you can call it a crush at this point- on her.

He as his best friend and guy on the chair was present through every step of their relationship development so far.

At first Peter was still a little too disturved with the events he’d lived in first person trying to save humanity so it took a few months for him to open up to Ned and tell him about all the loss they had to endure in exchange to go back to “normal”; so he was not ready for crushes. Yet, he was for a new friendship. So there came MJ.

She is nice to talk to and the smartest person Ned knows, she is a little -a lot- socially awkward but they get along quite well considering none of them are actually “social butterflies”, and she has the most obvious crush on Peter since the moment they met - Ned is smart too, he didn’t buy the “I’m not obsessed with him, just really observant” thing for one moment- but she is really guarded with her feelings.

After a few months Peter started talking about MJ more and more. It was a casual, not calculated thing at first, like comments about a joke she told him or a book she recommended or an argument she used against one of their teachers. Then, he started to notice how his friend wanted to talk about her almost every time and not only about her dark humor or cleverness, it was also about how her curly hair shone a dark shade of red under the sun, or how her skin looked really soft and flawless, or how she changed the lavender shampoo for a jazmin one -” _I can’t help to notice man, it’s the spidey sense” “Yeah sure, dude. Whatever you say_ ”- or how dark with excitment her eyes get when she talks about that Black Dalia murder documentary, or... well, a lot more.

Now they are at that point where they would brush hands while walking and not move them away like an electric shock hit them or would stare at each other for a few seconds with soft smiles on their faces and look down with blushy cheeks or would innocently compliment one another and make no big deal about it or where everyone in their homeroom believes that they are already dating.

It's really sweet but also really painful to look at, in that second hand embarrassment kind of way because neither Peter or Michelle are smooth about it.

He remembers how easy it was to get together with Betty and he just doesn't understand why it’s taking them so damn long.

And even if they had made a lot of progress, sometimes Peter’s brains would stop working over things MJ does.

Like for example today.

His mother had gathered them around the kitchen table early that afternoon for tasks division. Immediately after Peter and Ned went outside to hang the lights, it was a cold afternoon but luckily was not snowing and with Peter’s super powers they got it done fairly quickly. Lucy’d stayed inside decorating the tree with her dad. MJ, doing great use of her artistic talents, had to draw the snow family his little sister desperately wanted for her bedroom wall. And his mom copied different kinds of snowflakes into a white cardboard to cut after.

They went back inside, to take a break with MJ and had big mugs of hot creamy chocolate with almond cookies and Mrs. Leeds put the tree of them into snowflakes-cutting duty. The things were triky and small and after a while MJ started to get a headache so she had to put on her glasses.

MJ with glasses.

It happened before and always got the same reaction from Peter, a double take like he couldn’t believe she wears them, red ears from the exhaustion of trying to control his thoughts, stuttering for a few seconds where his mouth couldn’t form any world in English or any other language and an imminent flight response after getting caught looking by her.

This time evidently -and finally- something changes.

“Why are you staring at me?” MJ says first, seeing that Peter didn’t run away when she looked his way.

“Nothing… You just look really cute right now.” Peter responds, not stuttering once.

“Oh”

Ned tries to pretend he’s not paying attention, still as a rock thinking that maybe if he moves too much or breathes too loud the magical Christmas miracle that’s happening three weeks before Christmas under the protection of his roof is going to vanish suddenly.

He moves his eyes, and only his eyes, from the misshapen snowflake in his hand to his friends in front of him.

MJ’s is smiling in that way where her front tooth peeks a little and her head is turned down so her bangs cover half of her face. Peter is red as a tomato, but a very proud tomato for that matter, still looking at her.

They let it go after a moment of intense staring, not ready for more than that and keep cutting the ornaments.

Ned gets up and heads to the kitchen, offering another round of chocolate.

When he comes back with another round of hot beverages and catches the way Peter’s left pinky finger is hooked around MJ’s right one, under the table, he doesn’t say anything but a good feeling sets in his chest.

Maybe this year, the magic of Christmas will work on his best friends favor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ❤🙌


	4. Run Rudolph Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV MJ!!! ♥
> 
> Day Six of Promptmas: _Baking_  
>  “You have frosting on your face.”   
> “Ha, this gingerbread man looks like you.” 

It’s cookies icing day at the Parker’s. One of the many activities on Peter and Ned’s Christmas list. Yes, apparently teenagers have those and MJ made fun of them for an hour when she heard about how they celebrated holidays with the eagerness of a five years old, but her heart secretly melted because this year she was invited to the pre-festivities.

It seems that every year May would bake many batches of beautiful —and a little bit burnt— gingerbread cookies in different holiday-related shapes so they could decorate and pack in tiny clear plastic bags and she could take later to the shelter she volunteers at.

“Ha, this gingerbread man looks like you.” MJ says mockingly and shows it to a baffled Peter while Ned laughs loudly.

MJ has become increasingly good at making fun of Peter trying to cover up the fact that she is enamored with him, no point in calling it a crush -even if she doesn't actually mention it to anyone- in her head she knows that the warm feeling in her belly every time he smiles and the tingle on her limbs when they touch is not at crush level anymore.

Besides, she loves to see the way his cheeks turn red and to hear the low grumble of frustration that leaves his throat when she jokes on him.

MJ thought that after so many years of doing the same activity over and over again they boys would have a better control of the whole thing, so her only suggestion for today was changing the plastic bags for paper ones so they wouldn’t destroy an already doom planet.

But man, she was wrong.

An hour into the decorating and the kitchen is a mess, it's out of her understatement how it’d happened, they didn’t even have to bake anything, just mixing sugar with egg whites and the edible dye-stuff, easy peasy.

But Peter went a little too extra with the super strength while mixing the powder sugar causing it to fly on a big white cloud to the counter and his hair. And Ned applied the coloring on different bowls with the same toothpick twice, every time grabbing from a different end, so his fingers went red, they only noticed after he scratched his nose and ended up doing a rendition of Rudolph the reindeer. And MJ made an impossibly good first impression with the ornaments making at Ned’s about a month ago, but she had not the faintest idea about cookies and frosting and how you have to keep a steady but delicate pressure into the piping bag or the frosting would jump into your face and make you look like an idiot in front of your best friend and the guy you are in love with.

MJ tried to justify the fact that she is awfully failing in the Christmas marathon in her head — the imaginary board reads Marathon 2- MJ1— because she hasn't really had a proper holiday since she was six.

Her family throws a party two days after Christmas, aligning the date with her father's birthday. They are all about efficiency, not wanting to waste more time than necessary in little meaningless things.

She got amazing Christmas eves and days in her early years and her parents did everything in their hands to keep her enchanted with it as long as possible. But as soon as she discovered that Santa was not some random dude with an awkward suit that climbs into a chimney, but her own parents, all pretenses were gone.

She didn't really mind so much, but she likes to be good at things, she likes to be outstanding, and that's not happening now.

She wipes her hands in a dirty tablecloth and huffs in frustration.

"Dude, relax it's just icing" says Ned in his relaxed voice, still looking like Rudolph.

She throws him one of her killer looks but he barks out a laugh and she rolls her eyes in faked annoyance before turning to Peter —she chastises herself a little at that because she should stop looking at him so much all the time— only to find him looking at her with his eyes gleaming and his jaw wobbling form trying too hard to hold back a laugh, really amused with her incompetence. _The sucker, looking so cute with his sugar coated curls and pretty brown eyes. “You have frosting on your face.” he says covering his mouth with his hand hiding his cute toothy grin._

"Really?" She says faking innocence, ready to smear the frosting that the dirty tablecloth failed to clean out, on his dorky face.

"Yeah, here" he says and extends his hand to take off the icing on her cheek with his thumb.

And then he sucks it.

And her heart starts pounding in her chest.

They've become bolder lately, saying small compliments, holding hands in public, kissing cheeks as a goodbye. And she's not sure how long she could take it before she'll send caution to the wind and just declare her undying love for him. _Yeah, she is cheesy like that._

So they are having one of their "moments" like Ned loves to call it where they just look at each other with shy smiles and it seems like the rest of the world vanishes.

She swears that they are getting closer, as if a mystical force is pulling them together and she can’t help to think that finally they’ll kiss, that finally they leave the pretence of a friendship that morphed a while ago. She thinks this is what Christmas is all about, little miracles like this moment that makes you believe in something good, something great...

And then, Mariah Carey starts singing “All I want for Christmas is you” and they break the staring contest to look at the source of the noise.

“Shit! Fuck… Sorry, It’s Betty” Ned curses and apologies the best he can with his phone still going off with the catchy song “Gonna go… to pick up… just keep going” and leaves the room in a rush.

She knows he tried to encourage them to “keep going” but the magic just seemed to leave following Mariah, so she curses his and Betty’s stupid lovey dovey couple habits in her head.

_So much for Christmas miracles._


	5. What Christmas Means To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Her apartment was bare of Christmas spirit, May's first year in New York had been tough and saving money for something as superfluous as Christmas ornaments had been impossible. She wasn’t much of a mopper but that morning she’d called her parents and the whole family gathered around the phone to scream how much they miss her, how much they loved her. She had to hang up before she started crying._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It'sMay's turn!!  
> Prompts:   
> Watching Christmas movies together   
> Cold, sleepy cuddles

The first Christmas she spent away from her family was only a few months after she started dating Benjamin Parker. She hadn’t met his family yet, but she knew they were Jewish and she definitely didn’t want to push her tradition into his life. Her friends were all celebrating with family or being exploited by greedy bosses. And she ended up alone.

She felt really homesick that 25th of December.

Her apartment was bare of Christmas spirit, May's first year in New York had been tough and saving money for something as superfluous as Christmas ornaments had been impossible. She wasn’t much of a mopper but that morning she’d called her parents and the whole family gathered around the phone to scream how much they miss her, how much they loved her. She had to hang up before she started crying.

She was watching the Christmas movies marathon on her small TV, whining to “Home Alone” thinking no one should spend Christmas alone, drowning her sorrow in the half empty chocolate ice cream pot and wrapped around the blanket her mom made when she was little and her dad secretly packed into her lended big black suitcase almost a year ago when she decided to have a new adventure. And then, someone knocked on her door.

She knew who it was by the knocking - two slow followed by tree fast knocks - but she peeked through the peephole anyway out of surprise.

“Mayday! It’s freezing out here! Let me in!” Ben screamed from the other side.

May opened the door, confusion latched on her face, and standing there, with two brown bags in one hand and holding up a branch of mistletoe in the other, was Ben.

“Merry Christmas, gorgeous” he said with his classical big smile that made his eyes wrinkle in the corners and red ears from the cold.

“I thought you didn’t celebrate” May answered looking up to the mistletoe he was still hanging over them. Ben shrugged with boyish charm and answered

“You do. So, here I am.” He explained it like it was simple, and she fell in love a little more.

He was lowering his hand for her lack of response, so she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the mouth before letting him in.

One of the bags he brought had butter and flour and sugar and all things necessary for gingerbread cookies and the other had a few hand down ornaments he collected from her friends a few days ago.

It seemed like he planned this as a surprise knowing how much she loved the Holiday and imagining how hard being away from her loved ones must be and her heart swelled with love.

She prepared the dough and cut the cookies while he hung the mistletoe and decorated the empty walls. They watched movies together while the cookies were in the oven and burnt the first batch cause they forgot about it, but Ben said he liked it better like that .

“He’s tan, May” he joked holding an overcooked ginger man, “Ginger Man here is handsome!”

She frowned, an affectionate smile on her lips. “He kinda looks like you,” she said contemplatively.

“I wish!” he said, shaking his head. They laughed and she kissed his cheek because she adored his dorky sense of humor and the way he could always make the best out of any situation.

They decorated the cookies with music from the radio as a soundtrack and ate them with cups of sickly sweet hot chocolate and when “Underneath the tree” started to sound he lip-synced and took her out to dance around the kitchen.

When they kissed she tasted the icing, the chocolate and ,somehow, the sparkliness of something she was sure was Christmas magic on his lips.

She remembers thinking that it was the best Christmas ever until the year after when he took her ice skating for the first time and they laughed so hard at her lack of grace that they ended up on their butts. But then the year after that they went to Italy to visit her family and he proposed. She thought it was better that year, but the next one they made a movie marathon, invited Mary and Richard and they announced they were having a baby.

Every year somehow, they found a way to bring a new tradition and a lot more of that sparking magic into the date.

May always loved Christmases because she grew up celebrating with her parents, cousins, uncles and aunts, eating mountains of homemade delicacies in a golden, red and green house, feeling hopeful and warm. Ben loved it because he fell in love with the way her eyes sparkled when she was happy and Christmas did that.

Now she loves Christmas because she can share it with her nephew. She’s amazed that Ben and her did such a good job raising the kid, and seeing him all grown up, a boy that’s been through so much in his short life but has learned how to make the best out of any situation just like his uncle taught him, fills her with pride and love.

Like every year since that first time, on christmas afternoon, they would do a only-christmas-movies marathon and this year, besides Ned, MJ would join.

She met the girl a few years ago when she was still just Michelle and she drove her back home after the eventful Washington trip. She had been really quiet the whole ride and she can’t believe that now that they share weekly chats over tea that last hours. She learned a lot about her in that time and she can affirm, with her heart and soul, that she loves her just as much as she loves Ned and Peter.

She can also say that MJ and Peter have been dancing around each other looking hopelessly in love in that kind of way only first love can make you for a long while.

When they sit on the couch side to side May doesn’t find it weird because movie night was a common occurrence and for a few months they’ve been keeping those seats. What is new is the certainty in which they hold hands after a few minutes into the first movie or how easily they share the same blanket and knock each other's feet playfully.

The kids still have a dark deep blush -more noticeable on Peter’s cheeks and ears- but it seemed that something had changed enough that taking a risk isn’t so scary anymore.

She has to hide her smile behind the cup of herbal tea she is drinking and shares a look of knowledge with Ned. They all fall asleep around the first half of the third movie and she wakes up with a crick on her neck to the Netflix sign asking if they are still watching. She turns off the tv, gets up from her armchair and walks to her room as quietly as possible, not before taking a look at the wholesome scene in front of her.

Ned is snoring softly and with his cellphone against his chest, his girlfriend has been out on vacation with her family and he made a real time comment for her at all times. Peter is on the opposite corner with his head against MJ’s shoulder, who rubs her temple against his curls and sighs deeply on her sleep.

That night she goes to bed with the biggest smiles on her face, thinking about the subtle ways the magic of Christmas works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading ♥


	6. Please Come Home For Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Maybe she can die and let him live for a few years and hunt him every Christmas as those creepy ghosts in movies that try to teach you a lesson. The lesson being: do not, under any circumstance, drop by the house of the girl who’s secretly in love with you, when she’s having a once a year family gathering, because that girl talks a lot about you to every family member and she would die of shame._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Peter and MJ's POV!!   
> Prompt: Meeting the family

**Peter**

He chickened out.

That night at his house all the bravery that he thought he gained over his years as spider-man left his body, leaving behind just a coward.

Maybe he was being too harsh on himself considering that he held her hand and woke up curled up against her shoulder but he still didn’t give her the present he bought a month earlier with all his savings.

He was supposed to follow his plan, the whole week building up to that day.

Things were going great and Christmas was doing his wing-manning exceptionally but that day Michelle -who always gives him shit about being late for everything- got to his house after Ned. And he couldn't just give her her gift like if it was something ordinary, he had a speech prepared -a love confession of some sort- that was meant to be delivered without witnesses.

And that morning when he woke up and Ned was already gone he thought it was his chance. She was already awake reading some book she'd left at his house a while ago -"just in case I got bored when you leave for patrolling and May's not home" because she doesn't leave until he comes back safe and sound-, but when he lifted his heavy head from her shoulder and saw with horror a damp dark spot of saliva in her sweater, he whipped his mouth with the back of his hand and runned to the bathroom.

By the time he came back out she was already gone.

He went out to patrol to clear his head and stop thinking about the unfortunate events of that morning, but the snow was too thick that day so not even criminals seemed to want to be out. When he came back home he mopped about his lost chance to May. He even went to sleep and woke up with the same thing running inside his head and ran off his mouth to May again for a while before she had too much and kicked him out of the house.

“But May! I just let pass the right moment!” he complained while the woman pushed him to his room so he could change.

“Peter Benjamin Parker!” she chastised in that motherly tone of voice that came natural from the years. “You don’t lose the right moment, you make the right moment!” and she slammed the door on his face.

He was pretty sure that she didn’t know what she was saying but it worked because half an hour later he is standing at MJ’s door.

Snowflakes are still falling hard and the city is covered in that thick white snow that is perfect for snowman-making but not so much to run around the city, to the house of the girl you are in love with, to give her a Christmas gift that you supposed to give her two day ago and -finally- confess your feelings to her.

He lets out a big cloudy exhale and knocks on her door, two times slow followed by three fast, just like Ben taught him. Michelle opens the door and her brows jump to her forehead line out of surprise.

“Peter, what are you doing here?” she asks nervously, stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

“Hey, uhm. Merry Christmas” he says at her lack of welcome, even if he saw her on the actual Christmas day. Before MJ can answer, the door flies open.

“Mimi, who is it?” a woman says, her eyes curious.

He can’t help to think that MJ looks like the exact copy of this woman, only taller. She has defined brown curls held up in a bun that is too perfect to be messy but definitely was intended to look effortless, and her eyes hold the same glimmer he saw on MJ’s before. The only difference is that this woman has a polite smile already set on her face even when she has no idea of who he is and is at least a head shorter.

And then it hits him, _he is meeting her mom._

He’s momentarily terrified but knows he has to make a good impression so he pulls out the Parker charm and extends his hand in greeting.

“I’m Peter Parker, ma’am. It’s nice to meet you”

“Oh my god Mimi!!” she exclaims excitedly “This is Peter!?” she continues in the same tone and elbows MJ —who seems to want to be anywhere but there— before shaking his hand.

“Mom…” MJ warns, confirming his suspicion about their kinship. He has no idea what she’s warning of and has no time to think about it because MJ’s mother has him grabbed by the arm and is pushing him inside before he can protest. And it’s incredible that a woman so small is so strong.

“Darling, call me Mary,” she kindly orders him, ignoring her daughter behind them as she walks him through the entry hallway. “It’s so good to finally meet you. Mimi talks lots about you” Mary adds, with a wink.

They get into a big living room that is the perfect picture of Christmas, from the decorations hanging around to the music resonating and the beautiful evergreen Christmas tree with silver and white ornaments that is standing tall in a far corner, its warm lights flickering in a constant pattern. At least a dozen people are talking joyfully either sitting on a big leather couch or standing close to a big mahogany table set with white plates, crystal glasses and shiny silverware - there are three extra forks and Peter has no idea what they are for.

The only thing that stands out is the "Happy Birthday" sign hanging above a window. And that's when he gets it.

He just ran into Michelles’s father's birthday party.

* * *

**Michelle**

She wants to die. No, she wants to kill him and then die.

Maybe she can die and let him live for a few years and hunt him every Christmas as those creepy ghosts in movies that try to teach you a lesson. The lesson being: _do not, under any circumstance, drop by the house of the girl who’s secretly in love with you, when she’s having a once a year family gathering, because that girl talks a lot about you to every family member and she would die of shame._

Still, she gets a little comfort at the way Peter froze in the middle of her living room, with his wide deer-in-the-headlights eyes, red face that could either be from nerves or the cold —she chooses to believe is the former— and with her mom talking incessantly and taking his coat off so he can feel more “comfortable”. _Pfff, sure._

He just nods like one of those toy dogs that you put on your car and her mother moves on to introduce him to every family member and friend present today, like "Mimi's Peter".

She keeps adding people to haunt on her list.

MJ keeps watching Peter shake hands and exchange polite smiles with everyone from a short distance - not close enough to add the world "friend" to her mother's introduction, but close.

“Oh Peter! Mimi hasn’t told us you were coming today” Mary exclaims with theatrical despair and finally acknowledge her “I’m gonna set a place for you, honey”

“Mom he’s not…” she tries to stop her bubbly mother but it’s clearly impossible, so she swiftly moves next to Peter when her mom leaves and he looks at her with a teasing smile.

“So… Mimi, huh?” She wants to punch him real hard but then remembers that it’ll probably be more painful for her than him considering his stupid super streght.

“What the hell are you doing here, Pete?” she asks, going for her murderous look that seems to work way better than a punch.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t give you your present the other day at home and I wanted to talk to you about... something. And then May convinced me to come here and just make the right moment, you know?... I totally forgot about this. And now your family is here and this is great, they seem like great people Em, but I wasn’t expecting this so just, can we go somewhere private?”

She gets annoyed when he rumbles like this because it’s impossible to follow, so of course MJ rolls her eyes frustrated, but takes his hand with resolution so they can go hide away from the prying eyes of her family — she loves them but the fact that Peter is the first guy she’s ever had home and that everyone knows some story about him because she can’t keep her mouth shut is making them nosy.

Michelle guides them to her dad’s office and prays that the owner does not appear because even when she thinks her dad is adorable that will be a lot of trouble.

Nicholas Jones is the kind of man that seems aggressive or even rude and scary when you first meet him. Tall with wide shoulders and a deep raspy voice that came from smoking too many cigarettes when he was young. She even likes to believe that she got the deadpan expression from him.

But she’s seen her dad watching her mom talk non-stop with a look of utter adoration on his face, she knows that he quitted smoking the second he knew that Michelle was coming to the world, she watched him show love with little gestures so many times in her life that she can’t deny that once he warms up to you he’s the softest man alive, even more than Peter.

The thing is that her dad does not like Peter. He’s a little overprotective —which she is trying really hard to change because thinking that a dad has to shield his daughter from any harm the word could present them with is a ancient idea — and she really talks a lot about Peter, so even when she doesn’t says she loves him — _she’s such a loser_ — he must know because her dad never picks her up earlier when there's movie night at Ned's. But lately he drops her to Peter's five minutes late and picks her up half an hour earlier.

“Ok, what is it?” she asks curiously after closing the door and hopes that he calms down his nerves.

“This is a great office, Em” he observes “Really. Great use of light in this room and the desk is very sturdy, what kind of wood is it?”

She’s absolutely confused and lets him know “Dude, are you an interior designer now? What ’s going on?”

“Sorry, I’m really stressed” he laughs and scratches the back of his neck in the most characteristic way.”I don’t even have your gift, your mom took it with my coat” Peter says looking down.”This is wrong, stupid Christmas luck” Peter murmurs so low that she has to struggle to listen.

“Christmas luck?” Michelle asks puzzled.

* * *

**Peter**

She 's angry.

No, not angry but definitely confused.

The space between her eyebrows creased and her mouth is twisted to one side and she’s trying so hard to understand why he is such an idiot crushing into her dad’s party.

“I should go, I’m really sorry, Em” he apologies, defeated. “Maybe next year”

She shakes her head and grabs his arm before he can move too far. “I wanna know what’s going on, Peter”

MJ is looking at him with sincere curiosity and he’s too much of a sucker for her to keep his mouth shut.

“ I had a plan” he starts, his hands are shaking so hard that he has to hold them together “I wanna spend the leading days to Christmas with you and give you your present on Christmas day and then tell you, because it’s the only time of the year that I can do what I want without everything going to hell. But somehow i fucked up” he says with a pained laugh.

“What… what you wanted to tell me?” MJ asks with a tremble in her voice, struggling to hold his gaze.

He walks closer and holds her hand hoping she doesn’t mind his sweaty palm. MJ looks at their intertwined hand with a soft smile and finally looks up at him.

“Give it a try, Peter” she tells him softly.

"Ok" he starts, taking a big breath in. This is it. "The other day in the ice rink when we fall I really wanted to kiss you"

Her eyes go big in surprise and she whispers "You didn't" and drops her eyes, trying to hide the blush creeping on her cheeks.

"Ned interrupted," Peter shrugs "then I wanted to kiss you when we were decorating cookies and Ned's phone went off"

"Weirdo" she says to make fun of him "should we get another best friend?"

"No one else could put up with me" he laughs self deprecating "You know, all my life I thought Christmas canceled Parker Luck" She makes a face like if what he is saying is truly stupid so he continues "yeah, I know. Let me finish, I swear I have a point."

"I think I've waited the whole year to do this because I thought that I had a better chance to do it right with it by my side. And when you left so suddenly the other day I thought the chance flew away. I thought that Christmas magic abandoned me too. And how the hell I was gonna do to have a chance with you if there was no mystical force on my side"

“You are a sappy dork” she says laughing and he smiles widely because yes, he is.

He gets a little bolder when she stops laughing but her smile stays, making her eyes shine like fairy lights. Peter couldn’t be more enchanted by her.

"We are under mistletoe, you know?" He says signaling up with the tilt of his head, trying to sound smug. She looks up and then back at him with a smirk.

"That’s rosemary, Pete" she has to bite her lips to hold back another laugh.

"Really? Who makes rosemary ornaments?! That makes no sen…"

She doesn't let him finish and kisses him. He doesn't want to make a big deal about it, because the kiss is probably too short and innocent and new, but the promise of what could be is enough to make sparks fly behind his eyes.

They part with flushed cheeks and tender smiles —he thinks that no one's ever been as beautiful as MJ standing this close to him — and before stepping back he brushes his lips from her mouth to her scarlet cheek to kiss her there too and holds her always cold hands in his.

The look on MJ's face is dreamy and he is pretty sure is a reflection of his own. They laugh awkwardly but lean back in anyway because it seems like none of them can find any reason to stop.

Peter presses another kiss in her plump lips, thanking Christmas magic for extending its powers for a few more days so he can have this chance, this perfect fleeting moment that he hope's last for an eternity. And then...

“So you are Peter Parker” Nicholas Jones says and Peter is glad that he had his chance because today is probably his last day on earth.

**The end**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter!!! Can't believe I finish it, it's been a big challenge for me.  
> Thanks to everyone who took some of their time to read and to @spiderman-homecomeme for creating this event!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! ❤
> 
> (Sorry for any mistakes, I'm still struggling with English and writing in general, but I hope is at least understandable)


End file.
